June 26, 2017 – This week, our time machine visits New York City’s oldest bar, McSorley’s Old Ale House. Our theme song, “New York Ain’t New York Anymore,” laments the loss of places where “the sawdust is gone from the floor.” Well in this East Village landmark, where the clock has literally stopped, and that means still spreading the sawdust every morning — and that they refused to admit women until a federal court forced them to in 1970 (or build them their own bathroom until 1986). Founded in 1854 by John McSorley and carried on by his son Bill, this saloon serves only two kinds of ale — light or dark — and always by the pair. Our guest this week, author Rafe Bartholomew, grew up in the bar like Old Bill before him. Rafe’s father is Geoffrey “Bart” Bartholomew, who has spent half a century behind the taps and had thousands of New York Moments, from serving the New York Rangers ale out of the Stanley Cup in 1994, to bringing U2’s Bono down to earth with a curt, “Boner who?” Rafe’s book is titled: Two and Two: McSorley’s, My Dad, and Me, and it’s as an heir…

May 29, 2017 – We’re uploading this episode for Memorial Day 2017, to pay tribute to the men and women who gave their lives in service to the United States. Leading us on this trip into the past, is Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, a licensed New York City Sightseeing Guide, United States Marine veteran, and author of World War I New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War. World War I has deep roots in the Empire State, which sent more men to fight than the other stars on the flag. Next-door New Jersey played a big role, as well, including Dean’s hometown of Cresskill, which was home to the sprawling Camp Merritt. When those men shipped out, they rode the rail line to Hoboken, a prime embarkation point for the doughboys, leading to General Pershing’s slogan that they’d be in “Heaven, Hell or (back home in) Hoboken” by Christmas. The area remained an important hub for men, prisoners of war, and recruiting throughout the conflict. Following the Armistice in 1918, the city sought to remember those who lost their lives over there, and erected more memorials for this event than any other. To mark the…

November 21, 2016 – The Flushing Remonstrance of 1657, a precursor to our own First Amendment protections of religious liberty. The Spaldeen we discussed in Geoff Griffin’s Brooklyn Bat Boy: A Story of the 1947 Season that Changed Baseball Forever. This week, New York Times Urban Affairs Correspondent Sam Roberts puts some serious miles on our Time Machine, and fills its trunk with the everyday objects that defined Gotham since it’s earliest, pre-colonial days. Bagels. Subway tokens. His book is A History of New York in 101 Objects, now in paperback. And like the city itself, the book is an ongoing conversation. Sam Roberts encourages readers to email him at ObjectsOfNYC@gmail.com to argue for their favorite object, or against something he already included. Who knows? Maybe your object will be among the next 101 that define Greater New York. You can catch Sam’s columns in the paper, follow him @SamRob12 on Twitter, or check out one of his eight previous titles including, Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America. Podcast: Download (Duration: 46:16 — 42.4MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS | More

July 18, 2016 – This week, we strapping our time machine to a canal boat, and sail down the modern marvel of early American commerce: The Erie Canal. The 360-mile slash between Lake Erie to Albany, and down the Hudson River to New York Harbor isn’t just one of engineers and back-breaking, dangerous manual labor, but of fascinating human drama and America itself. The book is Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal. By the time the canal opened 1825, the nation had fallen in love with this man-made waterway. Now, you can fall in love with it, too, thanks to Jack Kelly — journalist, novelist, and New York Foundation for the Arts fellow. His previous books include Band of Giants, which earned the Daughters of the American Revolution’s History Award Medal. You can see him everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to the History Channel, or by clicking over to HeavensDitch.com. Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:26 — 36.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS | More

November 23, 2015 – The Old ’76 House in Tappan, New York, is a National Landmark, one where you can eat a meal fit for overthrowing a king. The building itself predates the American Revolution by over a century, and served an active role in the fight for independence. Every major figure including General George Washington spent time at this great American tavern. In 1780, it even served as a make-shift prison for Major John Andre, the British spy caught conspiring with America’s most infamous traitor, Benedict Arnold. And it was here that the British met Gen. Washington to officially recognize the war’s end, and recognize America as a free and independent nation. Learn more about America’s oldest tavern at 76House.com, or by following them at Facebook.com/TheOld76House. And don’t miss our interview with tavernkeeper, Robert Norden, who restored and preserves this unique piece of American history. Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:28 — 36.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS | More

August 17, 2015 – You’re familiar with our theme song, 1925’s New York Ain’t New York Anymore. It’s the perfect segue into today’s book, Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America. The story of speakeasies, Flappers and radio is brought to us by Donald L. Miller. He’s the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History at Lafayette College and also authored City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America. You can learn about these and his other projects at DonaldMillerBooks.com, and even take a spin around Jazz Age Manhattan on an interactive map. If you have an eye for history — and you do, or why else would you be here — you’ll run into a lot of old friends reading Supreme City. Names that still generate excitement and nods of recognition a hundred years later. Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Tex Rickard, E.B. White, Elizabeth Arden. Ziegfeld, Chrysler, LaGuardia, Lindbergh, Sarnoff. But how did New York City get from there to here? How did it become, as Duke Ellington called it, “the capital of everything”? Podcast: Download (Duration: 42:39 — 39.0MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS | More